


into the sunset

by SwanFloatieKnight



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Boys Kissing, Eventual Fluff, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Love at First Sight, M/M, Magic, Shipwrecks, Short & Sweet, at least i hope so, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26412658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwanFloatieKnight/pseuds/SwanFloatieKnight
Summary: They kissed once more, beneath the waves, before they swam off, hand in hand, into the sunset.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 55





	into the sunset

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [i found you amidst the waves](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26177815) by [Eisbaerfussel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eisbaerfussel/pseuds/Eisbaerfussel), [TheDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragon/pseuds/TheDragon). 



> Don't worry, I'm still working on the Titanic AU xD I just took a short break xD needed to get this plot bunny out of my head
> 
> Also I have no fucking clue how this became so long 😅😂 it feels like it has no plot at all, but oh well  
> Hope you enjoy it nonetheless :D

A/N: I posted this fic on Ao3, and on Ao3 alone. If you read this on any other website or platform, please consider that I did not consent to this.

* * *

Merlin had been so frightened when they had captured him. Their nets and ropes had bound him, their weapons had hurt him, some had even made him bleed, and then they had taken him out of the water, and for a long and terrifying moment he hadn’t been able to breathe until his lungs finally started working.

He was breathing, yes, but he was still in pain, and the men around him were threatening him if he so much as twitched. One was holding a cool, sharp object to his beautifully glistening tail, running it along Merlin’s spine until he drew blood. Merlin cried. The men laughed.

They went on teasing him, rejoicing in his helpless struggles, laughing at his pain and his obvious discomfort until another man stepped forward. He was different, Merlin could see that at once. He looked richer and cleaner than the others, and his golden hair was shimmering as the rays of sunlight were caught in it.

For a second, their eyes met. A shudder ran through Merlin. He was sure that this man, who was obviously holding some kind of authority over the others, could hurt him even more. The other man’s eyes were hard and cold, but something inside them lit a fire in Merlin’s chest. He desperately wanted to look away, but found that he couldn’t. The other man held his gaze, and his cheeks reddened before he hastily looked away.

This man now stepped between his men and Merlin, tore his gaze away from the merman, turned around and looked at his men sharply.

“Release him.”

“But, Captain Pendragon, Sir, isn’t it amazing? We caught a merman! Shouldn’t we keep him and present him once we are back – ”

“Release him!” The Captain’s voice got sharper. “He is a living being, like you and me. And nothing gives you the right to torture him or keep him your prisoner. Release him, and get him back into the water where he belongs.”

“Aye, Captain,” the men mumbled, and Merlin felt another knife cut the ropes at his wrists. He could move more freely now, as freely as one could without legs on dry land. Again, he was lifted up by the men, but this time they threw him over the rail of the ship. Merlin fell and then hit the water with a loud thud.

It was wonderful to be back in the sea again, even though his wounds still hurt. He was free again, he would live. His instincts screamed at him to leave this ship, this prison behind as soon as possible, to not test his luck, but something drew him back to the surface. And that something was the young captain with his golden hair of which Merlin hoped to catch another glimpse.

So, he surfaced once again, and watched the ship sail away. He saw the captain on deck, his golden hair glowing like a second sun, and something about him made Merlin’s chest feel all tight and aching, and this had nothing to do with the abuse he had suffered. It made him strangely sad that he would never see the kind captain again.

With a heavy heart, he turned away from the ship and made his way back home.

<°)))>< *~*~* ><(((°>

Years passed, Merlin tried not to think of the captain too much, and after a while he was confident that he would be able to forget him one day. The ache in his chest lessened, he no longer caught himself lost in phantasies in which the man was a merman like Merlin. Phantasies in which they were together. In which they held hands. In which they kissed.

He ignored these phantasies and the confusion they brought with them as well as he could. The confusion came from his racing heart and his boiling blood, and the strange fluttering he could feel in his chest and belly every time he thought about the Captain. But after a while, it lessened. Soon Merlin was living his life just as he had done before the whole incident, and with every day that passed the memory of the Captain grew more distant.

Then, the storm happened. It was one of the most enormous storms Merlin had ever witnessed that was raging up there on the surface. Down on the ground where he lived he didn’t really notice much, but they could hear it. The sea folk could hear the waves crashing against each other up there, they could hear the wind whirling, the water trying to keep up with the brute force of the air.

When after a few days the storm finally abided, Merlin was happy. He had longed to surface again, watch a sunset as he often did, but there was no chance for him to do so while the storm lasted. So he took his first opportunity to swim up, even though it would still be a couple of hours until the sun actually set.

What he found there was not completely unexpected and yet shocking to him. On the still unsteady surface, debris was floating, wood splinters, boxes, furniture. Merlin had seen this sight often enough to know that a ship must have sunk during the storm and its remnants would now be giving the last hints of its existence, for a short while only before they would sink, too.

Merlin had no idea how long it must have been since the ship had sunk. It couldn’t be too long though when there were still so many parts of it afloat. One day at the most, he guessed, considering the rough sea. Maybe he would have a chance looking for survivors.

It was a habit of him, looking for survivors after shipwrecks. No matter what men might have done to him on that day Merlin felt no hatred against the entire species. He could live with the knowledge that some men were cruel assholes, but definitely not all of them. The captain, for example, had been nice. And so he kept up his habit even after the incident and tried to save the lives of poor sailors who lost their ships in the middle of the ocean.

This time though he seemed not to have any luck at first. No matter how thoroughly he scanned the waves, there was no person, not even a body. Merlin started to hope against hope that the crew of the ship might have made it into a life boat and saved themselves. He could just pretend they had, not think about it anymore, and watch the sunset in peace.

He swam a few more meters, and then he saw him. He was a young man with blonde hair desperately clinging to a plank of drift wood. His face was pale, his cheeks sunken, his hair was dirty and his eyes closed. That was the reason why Merlin only recognised him when he was swimming face to face with him. It really was the captain!

Merlin’s breath hitched. Then he saw that the man was not moving. Maybe it was too late?

Carefully as not to startle him, he swam closer. He heard the man’s laboured breathing and it was a relief. Maybe he still had a chance. He only needed to bring him to safety. The captain was shivering, his hands had barely any strength left to hold onto the piece of wood.

When Merlin touched the man, he shrank together. His blue eyes opened – they were glassy and disoriented.

“Who – what – am I dreaming?” he whispered hoarsely, voice barely audible.

Merlin only shook his head.

“Who are you then?”

“Merlin. And you?”

“Arthur.”

“Then let me help you, Arthur.”

When he wrapped his arms around the man from behind he noticed the heat of his skin. He was burning up. Arthur’s head fell back and came to rest on Merlin’s shoulder, exhaustion finally taking over. “This must be a dream,” he whispered tiredly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” Then, his eyes closed.

Something tightened in Merlin’s chest when he heard that Arthur apparently hadn’t forgotten him either. All the feelings that he had tried to forget, that he had repressed all the years, suddenly welled up in his chest again. He needed to bring Arthur to safety or he would never forgive himself.

Holding the feverish and unconscious man tightly in his arms, Merlin made his way to the closest shore. He could not help him properly, could not even get him the fresh water he direly needed, but he knew of a beach not too far away where people lived. They would certainly take care of Arthur when they found him on the beach. When he hurried he could be there in a few hours, maybe even before dark.

Merlin reached the shore at high tide. Arthur hadn’t woken all the way, and while he hadn’t stopped breathing his condition had worsened. Merlin was worried for him. He needed rest, a proper bed, someone who cared for him And that someone wasn’t him.

It hurt more than he wanted to admit, not even to himself. He wanted to care for Arthur, not leave him at the mercy of strangers who didn’t – what? Know him? Care for him? Merlin didn’t know him either, and they would probably care for him much better than he ever could.

He didn’t want to leave him with people who didn’t love him. But he didn’t have a choice.

When he dragged himself out of the water, Arthur still in his arm, the man stirred. Merlin saw his eyes open slowly, and in the soft light of the beginning dusk they were no longer cold and hard like they had seemed on the ship, or glassy and feverish like they had been this morning. Now, they were tired, but warm and full of love when they looked at Merlin. Arthur blinked sluggishly.

Merlin leaned down and kissed his hot brow, tasting salt and sand and human skin. He saw the small smile on Arthur’s lips. Then, he heard human voices in the distance, and without a word he turned around, dragged himself back into the water and disappeared beneath the waves. He couldn’t risk being seen by the other humans.

From out at sea, he watched how they knelt down next to Arthur, how they picked him up and carried him away. He could only hope that they would care well for him, and that Arthur would live. And he knew that it would be wisest to return back home.

But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t leave this shore without knowing that Arthur was well. So he stayed close and kept an eye on the beach as often as he could.

When after almost two weeks he saw Arthur taking a slow and short walk on the beach in the company of another man, his heart nearly jumped out of his ribcage so happy and relieved was he to see that the young captain was still alive. He told himself that knowing this he should be satisfied, that he should finally leave this place and return home, but he couldn’t. Something – someone – drew him to the beach day after day, as if he was waiting for something.

And really, one evening Arthur came down to the beach and sat down there, and he was alone, and he stared at the waves and looked all lonely and a little sad and as if he was waiting for something – or someone. Merlin decided to take his chance. He would approach Arthur and finally get to talk to him. Or try it. Depending on Arthur’s intentions, and if he was really waiting for him.

Carefully, Merlin approached the beach. He didn’t want to get too close yet, there was no way of knowing how Arthur would react. Maybe he would try to scare him away. Maybe he would pretend he didn’t see him.

But when he stuck his head out of the water, Arthur looked up and his face lit up in a smile. “So it was real! I didn’t dream this! It really was you who saved me, right?”

Merlin nodded, too nervous to say anything. And also, what does someone reply to a question like this? There weren’t any words needed, after all.

“Thank you, then. You saved my life.”

“As you saved mine.” It was the first time that Merlin spoke to the captain when he was fully conscious. “I don’t know if you remember it, though. It was years ago, after all.”

“Of course I remember. One doesn’t catch a merman every day, after all. And…” Arthur lowered his gaze and blushed, but said no more.

Merlin moved a little closer so that only the tip of his tail, the huge fluke, was still in the water. “I remembered it, too. And all the years I have wondered what was it that made the captain order his men to release me?” he asked quietly.

Arthur looked up again. “You were so beautiful. And when I saw you caught in the nets, when our eyes met, I just knew that what we were doing here was _wrong_. Someone like you should not be imprisoned. You need to be free. The sea is where you belong. I saw it in your eyes. So I released you.”

“That was very kind of you.”

“Only the least that I could do. After all that my men had done to you.” Again, Arthur smiled his little, almost shy smile. “Why did you save me, though? One could think that my men would have scared you off and made you stay away from human ships in the future.”

They looked into each others eyes like they had done on that day, and again Merlin was not entirely sure what he read there. This time though, he had the opportunity, so he decided to take his chance.

“I love you, Arthur. I have from the moment our eyes first met. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Arthur’s voice was so soft and suddenly he was moving in and then his lips were on Merlin’s.

Merlin instinctively kissed him back and sighed in pleasure when Arthur wrapped an arm around his shoulders to draw him even closer.

When they broke apart, Arthur looked at him. “I don’t want to part from you again. I have missed you for years, but now that I know that you are real and that you love me, I want to stay with you.”

“You… with me… in the sea?” Merlin raised an eyebrow.

Arthur shrugged. “If there is a way, I’d gladly come with you. There is nothing here holding me back.”

“Is that so?” Merlin looked at him intensely. “Then I know what we have to do.” And he kissed him again.

Their lips were still sealed when Merlin pulled Arthur under the water, and Arthur found that he could still breathe. When he tried to move, he found that his legs had also disappeared and that a beautiful tail had replaced them. He looked at Merlin and laughed happily.

“Thank you! I didn’t know this was possible!”

“Well, me neither,” Merlin grinned, “but I’m glad it is.”

They kissed once more, beneath the waves, before they swam off, hand in hand, into the sunset.

**Author's Note:**

> please appreciate the fish emoji that I looked up just for this fic to use as a divider xD
> 
> Also if you enjoyed this, please leave me a comment and Kudos :)


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